When It Counts
by NaturalDisaster521
Summary: Non-Spoiler Summary: Blair Waldor's mother dies in an accident and who is there to help her other than Chuck Bass of course. *Spoiler Summary: What if instead of Chuck's dad dying it would be Blair's mom? This is what I imagine would happen R&R :
1. Chapter 1

Blair had just arrived home from school when she received the news. She was laying on her bed, absentmindedly flipping through the pages of Vogue. Her head was too full of Chuck to focus on anything recently. That's when her thoughts were interrupted by Dorota's heavily accented voice.

"Miss Blair," she said softly with a hint of sadness.

"Yes Dorota?" Blair responded. Dorota stepped into Blair's room and Blair was instantly worried. Dorota's usual happy demeanor was now pain stricken. Blair's left eyebrow shot up, "Dorota, what's wrong?" Dorota took a seat by the edge of Blair's bed and she sat up as well. Dorota covered one of Blair's hands with her own.

"Dorota what is it?" Blair demanded now getting anxious.

"Miss Blair, it is your mother," Dorota answered softly.

"What's wrong with her?" Blair asked immediately.

"She was in accident, on her way home from Paris," Dorota explained.

"Is she-" Blair managed to blurt out before her eyes filled with tears. Dorota nodded sadly and Blair removed her hand from under Dorota's and got off the bed in one swift movement.

"When?" She demanded trying to gain her composure.

"A couple hours ago," Dorota answered.

"Who knows?" Blair asked.

"Who knows what, Miss Blair?"

"About the accident, about what happened!" Blair snapped.

"I don't know Miss Blair, but I was told this five minutes ago."

"If you don't mind Dorota I'd like to be alone right now."

Blair watched Dorota get up hesitantly expecting some sort of break down and she looked like she was debating in her head whether or not to stay to comfort her, but she knew better so she quietly left the room. Blair sat back down on her bed staring at her wall in shock. Her mother could have not possibly died, right? She had left to Paris three days ago, three days ago she was fine. Three days ago was the last time she had spoken to her mother. Her mother never called to check up on Blair so she just assumed she was okay. Her mother couldn't be dead could she? It was just a misunderstanding. That's all, just a misunderstanding.

Blair got up and walked to her computer and turned it on. She started typing her most visited website but the computer finished it for her. She looked through Gossip Girl and found nothing about her mother. Good. That means it could still be a misunderstanding. She could still fix this before it got out of proportion. Blair ran her hand through her straightened brown hair and decided to try another website. She typed in the name of the website. She stared at the screen. She slowly typed in Eleanor Waldorf and hit the search button. Nothing out of the ordinary. Good. So it was a misunderstanding, that was all. Maybe just a crank call or something. Before ruling out the possibility of her mother's death completely she decided to try a French search engine. Once again she typed in her mother's name. This time what she found tied up Blair's stomachs in knots. The first result translated to: _Famous Designer, Eleanor Waldorf Dies In Accident_. The second result read: _Eleanor Waldorf Found Deceased About Thirty Minutes Ago._ Blair's eyes were too full of tears to read the rest so she shut off her computer and ran to the bathroom. She was crying and she needed some control so she turned on the faucet and shoved her fingers as far down her throat as they could go.

* * *

Half an hour later Blair woke up on the bathroom floor. She had fallen asleep from how tired throwing up made her. She felt empty. She needed someone to be with her right now. Blair got up and made her way toward her bed. She grabbed her cell phone and contemplating calling Chuck but figured Serena would a more appropriate choice. She waited for Serena to pick up but instead Eric's voice rang from her phone,

"Hello."

"Eric?" Blair's voice sounded hoarse and monotone.

"Blair?"

"Where's Serena?"

"She's out with Aaron, she forgot her phone at home."

"Tell her to call me." With that Blair pressed the end call button and threw her phone against the bed. Where was Serena when she needed her the most? Out with her new poet artist boyfriend. Some friend. She stared at the phone on the end of her bed. She could call Chuck, but she didn't want to bother him. She kept staring at the phone. On the other hand she needed Chuck right now. She decided to go against her instinct and grabbed her phone and dialed Chuck's number. Blair regretted calling after someone picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?" A familiar female voice rang out.

"Vanessa?" Blair asked still sounding hoarse.

"Yes, who's this?"

"Um, is Chuck there?" Blair asked hoping maybe she had dialed the wrong number.

"Yeah, hold on a minute."

Blair hung up and threw her phone against the wall. She sobbed into her pillow for a good twenty minutes. She lifted her head off the pillow and decided that if no one was going to be there for her she was going to comfort herself and forget all her problems. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and fix her hair, then she went for her closet and put on a dark red Gucci mini dress and four-inch high heels, grabbed a coat and headed for a place where she could find relief, where she could escape.


	2. Chapter 2

****

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter. For the record this story is supposed to take place after 2.09. The only thing that I changed for the purpose of my story is that Nate accepted Chuck's offer to stay at his house instead of going off with his mom. Oky so this chapter is in Chuck's POV and the next will be in Blair's again (:

**Unfortunately I own nothing.**

**Please R&R (:**

* * *

Chuck swished around his drink in his cup as he listened to what Vanessa was saying.

"Well, luckily for you, I have decided to give you a second chance in trusting you with this place."

Chuck smirked as he looked around the old bar thinking of how it could be saved and brought back as a landmark just as Vanessa had proposed. There was nothing Chuck Bass loved more than a challenge. Well almost. As he tried to shoo that almost that was Blair Waldorf out of his head, he thought more of this new project. He would enjoy investing in this place and then having his father proud of him for what he had done. He would prove his father wrong about his doubts of the bar earlier, just as he had done with Victrola. He had already managed a way to get the money and he felt entitled to it anyway, He carried the Bass name too, even if his father wished otherwise. Even though he didn't like the concept of landmark he would work with it for now.

"You won't regret it, trust me," Chuck said envisioning the finished product for the thousandth time in his head. He could already see what could be fixed and where things could be placed and how he could save the bar.

Vanessa smiled and then quickly became serious, "If this is another one of you and Blair's games, so help me I will-"

"Save your open end threats," Chuck said, "I'm done playing games."

"If you say so," Vanessa teased.

"I'm going to go take another look around if you don't mind,"

"For the hundredth time?"

Chuck threw her a glare and got up to walk around the bar once again. He walked through the back of the bar taking his time to look at all the details again. He smirked again as he kept on walking and inspecting the place even further. He abruptly turned around when he heard Vanessa call him from the northern side of the bar.

"Chuck, somebody's calling you."

He sauntered back to where Vanessa sat and gave her a questioning look as she passed him his cell phone, "Hello?"

No one answered so he shut his phone.

"Who was it?" he asked her.

"I have no idea," Vanessa replied, "They sounded like they were sick though."

"I see you have a real respect for privacy," Chuck told her annoyed.

"Sorry, it kept vibrating and it was starting to annoy me," Vanessa apologized.

"Well if it was important they'll call back, I guess," Chuck replied hastily, "Let's get back to talking business."

* * *

Not more than forty-five minutes later Chuck received a call from his step-sister while he was still at the bar with Vanessa.

"My, my, dear sis, what do I owe this great pleasure to?" Chuck teased.

"It's about Blair."

"What about her?"

"Dorota just called me and told me she's missing."

"Missing?"

Chuck's face fell. What did Serena mean missing? Was Blair in trouble? He saw Vanessa raise an eyebrow questioningly at his suddenly worried face.

"Just come, and I'll explain everything later. I'm calling Nate over too. We're going to need the non-judging breakfast club to help her."

"I'll be right there."

He shut his phone and looked at Vanessa.

"I have to go."

"Anything I can help you with?"

"No, I'll drop by later this week with a lawyer so we can talk more."

"Okay, good night," Vanessa yelled out as Chuck hurried anxiously out of the bar. What had happened to Blair?

When he arrived to the house, Nate was already there, "Nathaniel," he greeted.

Nate acknowledged his greeting with a nod. Nate had been living with Chuck for over three days and Nate still seemed to be a bit annoyed with Chuck.

"Serena told us to sit down and wait for her."

"Why am I getting a familiar feeling about this?"

"I know what you mean," Nate said as they were both eerily reminded of the events with Serena last year that had led to their reunion. At that moment both of their cell phones vibrated and they both grabbed to check their phones at the same time.

_Hello Upper East Siders,_

_I have some tragic news to bear to you all. It has just been released to American _

_Press that B's mom was in an accident in Paris and has not lived to tell the tell. Don't be sad B, I'm sure you'll find the silver lining somewhere, even if it's only on that new Prada dress you bought. _

_XOXO_

Chuck angrily shut his phone. He couldn't believe this.

"Shit!" he heard Serena exclaim from upstairs.

Nate and Chuck exchanged worried glances. Chuck was still in shock over what he just found out. Was this true? He needed to talk to Blair, see how she was doing. He automatically dialed her number and it kept ringing until the answering machine picked up. Great. Just then Serena barged down the stairs.

"Well, unfortunately Gossip Girl got to share the news with you guys before I did," Serena said. Chuck thought she looked like she had been crying but he couldn't tell for sure.

"Blair needs our help right now," Serena pressed on.

"Where is she?" Chuck demanded.

"I don't know," Serena muttered, "I told you she was missing."

"We'll be able to think and look at the same time if we get in my limo," Chuck said already having stood up and begun to walk to the door. He couldn't just sit and do nothing. He had to at least feel like he had a plan. The other two followed him until they got to the limo and Chuck told his driver to just drive around for a while until they thought of somewhere to go.

"You haven't talked to Blair at all?" Chuck asked.

"No," Serena said guiltily, "She called me but I was with Aaron and I had left my cell phone at home."

"She didn't call you?" Nate asked Chuck.

"No, my phone hasn't rang all-" Chuck stopped remembering that call Vanessa had picked up.

"Damn it," Chuck muttered under his breath, "Somebody called me, but I wasn't sure who it was. I guess it must've been her."

"What do you mean you guess?" Serena shot at him.

"That doesn't matter," Chuck said not wanting to explain all the Vanessa deal to Nate, "Do you have any leads to where she is?"

"No," Serena said sadly, "Dorota told me she just left."

Chuck sighed sadly. Where could Blair be? She must be trying to forget her problems. He knew that's what he would do. He would want to find relief, somewhere to escape. At that moment it was as if a light bulb flickered on in his head.

"I know where she is," Chuck whispered, "Victrola."

* * *

When they arrived at Victrola the club was as packed as ever. Chuck subconsciously smirked at his first successful business investment. He looked up at the stage half-expecting to find Blair there. When he didn't he suggested to the other two that they should look around. The lack of good lighting was not helping their search much. Chuck was positive Blair would be here, he was sure he knew her well enough to know that. That was when they spotted a small crowd gathered at the center of the bar table. All they could see where a bunch of yelling men. They all seemed to be around their twenties at the latest and they all seemed to be cheering somebody on. Chuck itched with curiosity and he motioned for Nate and Serena to follow him. When they were able to push their way into the small crowd his eyes narrowed. There was Blair, a bottle of scotch at her left and what seemed to be at least twelve empty shot glasses at her right, a lemon wedge in one of her hands and a salt shaker in front of her. She was downing a shot, and seemed to be competing with the blonde guy sitting next to her and when she finished before he did she set the shot glass down and lifting her hands up in the air as she took in the crowd's cheering.

"I won, again" she slurred loudly teasing the guy next to her.

Chuck looked at Nate and Serena's shocked faces and told them, "I'm going to go get her, wait here."

He elbowed past the other guys in anger trying to get to Blair. Jealousy tied his stomach in knots as the blonde guy put his arms around his Blair. He quickly grabbed her by the elbow and took Blair by surprise. She turned around to look at him and her face settled in a comical pout.

"Hey man, what are you doing? I was going to win the next one," the blonde guy yelled drunkenly as Chuck rolled his eyes ignoring the booing crowd. When he passed by Nate and Serena he signaled for them to follow to a less crowded corner. It was hard to drag Blair considering that she kept tripping. He put her against the wall so she wouldn't fall and he took a step back as Serena and Nate caught up to them.

"Blair, what do you think you're doing?" Chuck growled at her.

"What," she exaggerated, "are you doing here? Why aren't you with your new girlfriend?"

Chuck rolled his eyes, "We were talking business, Blair, that's all."

"Yeah I bet," Blair slurred making overdramatic hand gestures as she talked.

"You sound like a jealous girlfriend," Chuck smirked. Blair took a step forward to hit him but she hit her knee on the table and it threw her off balance. Chuck and Nate caught her and set her back up.

"Blair, you're drunk" Chuck accused angrily. Blair never got this drunk, she would always nag Serena and Chuck whenever she had seen them like that. She knew better than to get this drunk even after the day she had had.

"True," she giggled.

"Blair," Serena said sympathetically stepping forward and embraced her best friend.

Blair sighed dramatically, "Oh, golly gee damn!"

Nate stifled a laugh and Serena turned to face him angrily, "Don't laugh at her, she's in pain!"

"I'm sorry," Nate apologized looking at the very disheveled Blair.

"'s okay," she smiled.

"Sit right here," Serena said grabbing Blair by the arm and leading her to a chair. Serena turned to face Nate and Chuck, "What are we going to do with her? I think I should take her home."

"No, I'll take her," Chuck said quickly.

"No, it's okay Chuck, I can do it," Serena said again.

"No Serena," he said giving her a meaningful luck to tell her that he had to do this, "I'll take her home and I'll stay with her."

"Okay fine," Serena said reluctantly.

"I'll help you put her in your limo and then Serena and I will catch a cab home," Nate said and they all turned to look at Blair. Great. Now she had passed out.

"Wow, that was fast," Serena said.

Nate and Chuck got Blair to the limo and Serena demanded she get a call as soon as Blair woke up.

"Anything else?" Chuck asked teasingly.

"No, that's it. Be nice to her or I will accidentally burn all your scarves," Serena threatened.

Chuck laughed as he got into the limo and shut the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry it took so long I have been bombarded with projects and homework ): I'll try to update as soon as possible.**

**Once again I don't own anything**

**Don't forget to leave a review (:**

* * *

Blair stepped into Victrola ready to escape all her troubles. She was trying not to think about her mother, she needed to keep calm. She didn't want to break in front of strangers. She made her way to the bar and sat down at an empty stool. She motioned for the bartender.

"Hello beautiful," he smiled, "what would you like?"

"Let me have a bottle of scotch."

"Miss, I can't give you a whole bottle."

"Why not? I'm going to drink it anyway."

"I can give you a glass of scotch, but-"

"Here," Blair interrupted handing him a large wad of money that she estimated was enough for about five bottles of scotch, "I'm sure your willing to make an exception."

The bartender looked at the money in awe and he quickly brought her a whole bottle of scotch and filled her a glass. Blair smiled appreciatively as he left the remains of the bottle at her side. She smirked at the thought of how easily people could be bought off. She took a sip of her scotch and she welcomed the burning of it against the back of her throat. She drank more hoping the burning would help distract her. Once she finished her first glass she poured herself another one. She didn't know why she had always nagged at Serena especially, when she would get drunk. It really was much easier than to face everything with a little help. She decided that pouring the scotch into a glass was taking too much time so she grabbed the bottle and took a large swig. She put the scotch bottle down leaving it a little more than half full and as soon as she did a cute blonde guy took a seat next to her.

"Rough day?" he asked. Blair turned to look at him, he had an oval face and very pointy features that worked well on him. He seemed pretty tall and his blonde hair was too long for her taste.

"You have no idea," she said darkly.

"How about I buy you a shot?"

"Nice try," Blair said, "but tonight's not your lucky night."

"Oh, I see," he pressed further, "You can't handle a shot."

"I can," Blair said angrily. She thought about it for a moment and then remembered she came here to escape so she was going to have fun, "You know what? Go ahead and buy me a shot. I'll show you I can handle it."

He smiled at her and called the bartender to them, "Give us a round of shots, please."

The bartender nodded and brought what they asked. Blair grabbed the lemon wedge and before she did the overconfident boy told her that they should see who could finish their shot first. She rose an eyebrow and then the games begun.

* * *

By her ninth shot, Blair was drunk. Drunker than she'd ever been in her life. A crowd had gathered around them and Blair was loving the attention. She had beat him six out of the nine times. She didn't even remember this blonde stranger's name. She was pretty sure it was Randy. Or maybe Rudy? She decided it was unimportant and looked back at the blonde.

"Another one!" She exclaimed giggling.

"You heard the pretty lady!" Randy Rudy exclaimed at the bartender. The bartender rolled his eyes at them and Blair caught it. She let out a loud giggle at the annoyance the bartender was having. The bartender brought another round of shots and their little audience cheered.

"Five dollars on the chick, man" she heard some guy exclaim. She giggle triumphantly to herself as she grabbed the shot glass. Randy Rudy looked at her, "Ready, Set, Go."

Blair titled her head back and embraced the burn in the back of her throat once again. She heard him slam his shot glass against the table and internally cursed. He won again.

"Rematch," Blair demanded seriously.

"Ok then another round," Randy Rudy echoed in all seriousness.

The same thing happened a couple of more times, Blair beating the blonde boy one more time. "I won, again" she told him smugly.

Blair was enjoying herself, waving her arms in the air in victory. Randy Rudy put his arm around her and whispered in her ear, "I'll kick your ass in then next round." Blair smirked and was about to tell him there was no way he was ever going to win when she felt someone grabbing her elbow. She turned to yell at the person not letting her continue with her fun when she suddenly recognized who it was. She saw the infuriating face of Chuck Bass and she pouted. She had come here to forget all her problems and here was the source of one of her problems. He pulled her away from the bar and she heard Randy Rudy complain and her audience booing. She waved goodbye to them and tried to keep from falling as Chuck dragged her away from her fans. It was kind of hard to walk when the floor kept moving like that. She spotted two golden heads and was going to wave at Serena and Nate when she decided it was hard enough to walk she might as well not push her luck by attempting to wave at the same time so instead she concentrated on walking. Chuck was dragging her the other corner of Victrola and he put her against the wall.

"Blair, what do you think you're doing?" Chuck yelled at her and it made Blair mad. How dare he be mad at _her_? If anything she should be mad at him? Where was he when her mom-

She stopped before she could complete her thought.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you with your new girlfriend?" She exclaimed angrily pointing accusingly at him. She saw Chuck roll his eyes and she scowled.

"We were talking business, Blair, that's all."

"Yeah I bet," Sure Blair was drunk but she wasn't stupid like she was going to buy that. "You sound like a jealous girlfriend," Chuck said his trademark smirk on his face. How dare he make fun of her at a time like this? Use the words she had used a long time ago against her? How dare he? Blair just wanted to hurt him. Really bad. She determinedly walked toward him but her knee met the table in front of her. Ouch. She was falling until Chuck and Nate caught her. Who put that table there? Was it there before?

"Blair, you're drunk" Chuck stated sounding angry. When Chuck said that, Blair giggled remembering a similar conversation in one of her favorite movies of all, Breakfast at Tiffany's. "True," she said imitating Holly Golightly.

"Blair," Serena said from where she stood and Blair was caught by surprise when her best friend ran to her and wrapped her arms around her.

Blair still happy that she got to quote Holly Golight she decided to do it again, "Oh, golly gee damn!"

She heard Nate laugh at her and was about to join when Serena turned around and nagged Nate, "Don't laugh at her, she's in pain!"

"I'm sorry," Nate said and Blair smiled at him.

"'s okay," she said.

"Sit right here," Serena ordered grabbing Blair's arm rather tightly and leading her to a chair. She heard her say something to Nate and Chuck but Blair suddenly felt very tired. She felt her eyelids droop and the last thing she heard before she fell asleep was Chuck's voice, "No, I'll take her."

* * *

She woke up in a limo. She was still very drunk which would explain why everything was spinning. She heard Serena's voice from somewhere outside and Blair looked up and down searching for her. She realized it was outside.

"No, that's it. Be nice to her or I will accidentally burn all your scarves," Serena had said.

That was when Chuck got into the limo and closed the door. He turned to look at her surprisingly, "Blair?"

"Well that's the only name I've got," she smiled at herself for quoting Audrey Hepburn one more time.

Chuck rolled his eyes, "You're awake."

"Well, no kidding," she snapped. She hadn't forgotten she was mad at him.

"Who was that guy at the bar with you?" Chuck said calmly.

"Why are you jealous?" Blair smirked as she caught Chuck's angry glare, "You are. I knew it."

"Being drunk makes you even more cocky," Chuck said.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not as humble as Vanessa," Blair mumbled furiously.

Chuck surprised her by stroking her face from cheek to jaw line, "You have nothing to worry about, trust me."

Even drunk, Chuck still had a major effect on Blair and his words caused her to melt. She leaned her head into his hand. They stayed in the same position for a moment and then Chuck moved his hand up to Blair's hair and began to run his fingers through it. Blair leaned against Chuck and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Being drunk makes me tired," she giggled.

"I can see that," Chuck said with a smile, "Now do you want to tell me how you got this drunk?"

"By doing shots!" Blair exclaimed happily and then lifted her head from Chuck's shoulder to look him in the face, "Do you have any alcohol in this limo?"

Chuck looked at her in amusement, "Regardless of how much alcohol there is in this limo I don't want Serena to burn my scarves for contributing to your," he paused, "intoxication."

Great. Chuck Basstard wasn't going to give her any alcohol. She leaned her head back on his shoulder and continued telling him how she got so drunk.

"Well, I bought a bottle of scotch."

"A whole bottle?"

"Yes and then Randy Rudy came-"

"His parents must have loved him giving him a name like that."

"Well, I can't remember his name," Blair giggled, "but that's what I've been calling him. Well we started downing shots and well yes that's how."

"I see," Chuck said quietly.

She giggled and then quieted down just laying on his shoulder. She wanted to hear music so she perked her head up quickly.

"Is there music in this limo?" She asked excitedly.

"Well we're already at your place," he pointed out as the limo stopped. Blair pouted and opened the limo door and stepped down as gracefully as she could while being drunk. She heard Chuck laugh to himself as he got off after her. He told her to stay where she was while he talked to his driver. Blair stayed and felt herself swaying from side to side so she decided to sit down. She found this a difficult task as she lowered her right arm first and once her small hand touched the ground she used it as support to sit the rest of her self down. By the time she was finished Chuck was back and smirking.

"Difficulty sitting down?" he teased and she scowled.

"Can you help me get up?" she asked him too tired to even attempt the difficult task of getting up.

Chuck held out his hand to her and she took it gratefully. He pulled her up and led her to the elevator. She entwined her fingers in his and he looked down at her in surprise. She just giggled. Being drunk made her giggle. He smirked and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Chuck and Blair holding hands," she pointed out while trying not to fall by leaning on him. He nodded curtly and continued leading her to her room. Why wasn't he smiling or smirking? Blair was very irritated by that lack of emotion but was suddenly too tired to do anything about it.

Blair removed her hand from his as soon as they got to her room. She jumped on her bed and lay there comfortably. Chuck laughed while he took his phone out of his pocket.

"I'm going to call Serena, stay right here."

Blair nodded and smiled. She heard Chuck talk to Serena but was too tired to listen. She nuzzled her head into the pillow and knocked out.


End file.
